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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Iraq
Index
President Saddam Husayn
Courtesy Embassy of Iraq, Washington
The president is the chief executive authority of the
country. He may exercise authority directly or through the
Council of Ministers, the cabinet. He must be a native-born
Iraqi. The Constitution does not stipulate the president's term
of office, nor does it provide for his successor. President Bakr
served for eleven years before retiring for health reasons in
1979. He was succeeded by Saddam Husayn, the former vice chairman
of the RCC, who continued to hold the office of president in
early 1988.
The position of vice-chairman, rather than the office of
vice-president, appeared to be the second most powerful political
one. The vice-presidency appeared to be a largely ceremonial
post, and the vice-president seemed to be appointed or dismissed
solely at the discretion of the president. In 1988 the vicepresident was Taha Muhy ad Din Maruf, who was first appointed by
Bakr in 1974, and was subsequently kept in office by Saddam
Husayn. The vice-chairman of the RCC, who would presumably
succeed Saddam Husayn, was Izzat Ibrahim.
The Council of Ministers is the presidential executive arm.
Presidential policies are discussed and translated into specific
programs through the council. The council's activities are
closely monitored by the diwan, or secretariat of the
presidency. The head of the diwan is a cabinet-rank official, and
his assistants and support staff are special appointees. The
members of the diwan are not subject to the regulations of the
Public Service Council, the body which supervises all civil
service matters.
Cabinet sessions are convened and presided over by the
president. Some senior members of the RCC are represented on the
cabinet. By convention, about one-third of the cabinet positions
may be reserved for members of the Baath Party. In early 1988,
the cabinet consisted of forty-one members including president
Saddam Husayn and vice-president Maruf. Ministerial portfolios
included those for agriculture and agrarian reform,
communications, culture and arts, defense, education, finance,
foreign affairs, health, higher education and scientific
research, industry and minerals, information, interior,
irrigation, justice, labor and social affairs, oil, planning,
public works and housing, religious trusts, trade, and transport.
Additionally, there were seven ministers of state and seven
presidential advisers with ministerial status. Of the cabinet
members, the president and the minister of defense, the minister
of foreign affairs, the minister of interior, and the minister of
trade were also members of the powerful RCC.
Data as of May 1988
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